Racing-hurdle.



No. 732,680- PATENTED JUNE 30, 19.03. R. P. TRAXLER.

RACING HURDLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR, 13, 1903. I

approximately so.

ROBERT P. TRAXLER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

Patented June so, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

RAClNG-HURDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,680, dated June 30, 1903.

Application filed March 13, 1903. Serial lilo. 1 47,55 l. (No model.)

To all whom it concern.- 7

Be it known that I, ROBERT P. TRAXLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city and county of SanFrancisco and State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Racing-Hurdles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide for racing and athletic purposes a safety-h u rdle having a rider or top piece that is capable of yielding and offering no material obstruction if struck by the feet of the horse or the person taking the hurdle and having also the quality of returning to position each time after being displaced.

To such end and object mainly my invention consists in certain novel construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

The accompanyingdrawings herein referred to represent in Figure l a perspective view of a hurdle embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation. Fig. 3 is a detail of the slipjoint employed to connect the frame of the yielding section to the stationary frame. Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken in a vertical plane.

The principalparts of my improved construction are herein designated for the purposes of description as the main frame a, the yielding top piece I), hinges d, and springs e. I prefer to make the main frame of the wellknown triangular form, with-braced legsfg set at proper distance apart to give stability and horizontal bars or panels h nailed across the front at intervals apart. To the rear side of this frame are attached, by hinges or pivots, one or more yielding top pieces, standing above the top rail of the frame and also extending from end to end of the hurdle, or

Generally I prefer to provide at least two of these top pieces to a hurdle where the same is of ordinary length; but for a long hurdle it is better to make the top piece in three or more separately-acting sections, not only for the reason that the shorter sections will yield more readily when struck and will return to position more quickly than a long section, but also to give a separate yielding top piece in the space or portion of the roadway occupied by each animal. The preferable construction of this top set-screw 4..

piece is *seen in Figs..2 and 8. A frame formed by bending stiff and heavy wire'at right angles at the opposite ends, to produce upright'members m and ahorizontal member 11 is attached to the back of the top rail by a pair of straps 1)., having sockets s, in which the horizontal member 71 is fitted to turn readily, and the central portion of the horizontal member lying between the hinges is bent downwardly or in the same plane with the upright arms m to form a rigid loop n. To this loop is attached one end of a spring e, the other end of which is attached to a fixed point w on the main frame below the line of the hinges and somewhat to the rear of a vertical plane passing through them. Sufficient strain is applied by the spring thus connected to hold the hinged frame normally'in an upright position, while the additional tension produced in the spring by turning the frame backward is sufficient to bring the frame tothe upright position quickly against the resistance due to wind-pressure. A strip of woven fabric 2, suchas cotton cloth or canvas, stretched across the frame, is at tached to the upright members we. and to the bottom member in such manner that it can be taken off when the hurdle is out of service or when the cloth becomes worn or damaged. If white cloth be used for the covering, it may be left its'natural color, or it can be given some contrasting color to enable it to be readily distinguished from the hurdle and the background against which it will be viewed by the racer.- The object of using a woven fabric for the top piece is, first, forlightness, and, secondly, to offer less resistance to the air. I do not confine the construction of the covering to cloth alone, however, as other relative and open material, such as wovenwire fabric suitably colored to secure the desired contrast, could be used as well. To facilitate the work of attaching and removing the top piece, I have provided a slipsocket to hold the wire frame, the construction of which is seen in the detail Fig. 4.

The strap 19 has an open loop 8 on the lower end of proper size to hold the rod n of the frame loosely, and over the open side of the loop, through which the rod is inserted and withdrawn, a swinging plate 3 is held by a By turning this plate to one said sections consisting each of a yielding.

frame and a strip of textile material stretched thereon, and springs attached to the stationary frame and to the yielding frame at a point below the axis of the hinges to hold the yielding sections normally in elevated position.

2. In a racing-hurdle, the combination of a stationary frame of rails and posts; yielding sections attached to the top of said frame and standing above the top of said frame, said yielding sections comprising each a skeleton frame and a covering of material pervions to the wind; slip-hinges removably connecting the skeleton frame of each yielding section to the stationary frame, and springs connected to the skeleton frame and the stationary frame and adapted to retain the yielding sections normallyin stationary position above the top of the stationary frame.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in the presence of two subscribing wit- 11 GSSGS.

ROBERT P. TRAXLER. Witnesses:

EDWARD E. OSBORN, HARRY J. LASK. 

